The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1887-07-20
THE NEW HOUSE or MOBILES.

The debating Society, which meets
every Tuesday evening in Queen
Emma Hall, had under discussion
yesterday evening, the provisions
of the new Constitution in regard to
the House of Mobiles, that branch of
the Legislature to be henceforth an
elective body, and not appointees
of the King. The society may be
taken as a fair exponent of the
sentiments of the intelligent and
well disposed portion of the Ha-
waiian people. The question was
in regard to comparative merits OF
the Constitutions of ga and 'o7 as
regards the House of Mobiles. In
favor of the old Constitution it was
said, that Kalakaua had sworn to
maintain it, and could not consist
emily support the new: in reply to
this, it was said that under the old
Constitution, the people had the
right of petition and it was in ac-
cordance with the resolutions of the
mass meeting of June 30th, that the
King had made the change request
ed; Queen Emma Hall was devoted
to very different uses from its for
mer occupancy, but it was the same
house still. Another argument,
which seemed to have great weight
with the Hawaiian arguing by sound
rather than by sense, was that Art.
So, providing for the election of
MOBILES, no ali, was in contraven-
ton of Art. 80, according to which
all titles of honor, hooatii, emanate
from the King, as the moons light
comes from the sun, not from the
stars: to this il was replied, that
titles and offices are two different
things; the King could make his
wife's relatives Princes, but he could
not make them Mobiles, even under
the old Constitution. A third argu-
ment was that the new Constitution
abridged the Kings prerogatives:
to which reply was made that this
was the very thing desired. The
adherents of the old order, however,
contended that this was not Re-
public, but a Kingdom with chiefs
that had assembled from the realms
of night; to which reply was made,
that this country ceased to be under
chiefish rule, when Kamehameha III
made 1t a constitutional monarchy,
with definite limitations to the
powers of King, Mobiles, Represent
atives, and that even under the old
chiefish rule the people we're really
the source of power, for many times
unpopular chiefs had been set aside
by act of the people. Another OBJ
lection to the new Constitution was
that it deprived the present Mobiles
of their vested rights; but on the
other hand, their life-tenure of their
patents of nobility was not inalien-
able: q Noble could resign, or he
could be asked to resign. Still
another objection raised was that
the rights of the people were
abridged; under the old Constitu-
tion the Legislature being composed
of % representatives and only 20
mobiles; now there are "a in each
house: to which reply was made
that this disparity was the provision
made by the peoples committee
that drew up the new Constitution
for the King TO sign. But it was
objected anew, the right of suffrage
is abridged, property qualifications
being such that few could vote for
Noble: and as this could not be de-
MED, all that could be said was, it
is yet to be seen by the results of
future trial, whether this apparent
inequality is any real injury or in
justice. In any case, however, it
was further objected, some districts,
like Puma, could have no Hawaiian
as their spokesman in the House of
Mobiles; no Hawaiian there has pro-
perty enough; and who would stand
up for the rights of that district, as
against other districts of Hawaii?
The fear was expressed that these
new property qualifications gave
undue influence to property holders;
and how were the poor to hold their
own against the grasping selfishness
of the rich? The accumulation of
debt, under the old Constitution
with the power it gave TO the King.
was evidently thought to be, how
eyer, an evil of far greater magni-
tude, than any possible iniquitous
legislation on the part of property
holders, who may be selfish, but are
not usually foolishly or crlminally
extravaganza. Time will show, and
not arguments, whether the new
provisions of the Constitution are
advantageous, or otherwise: the
new Constitution is good enough to
have a fair trial given, and all
classes in the community should be
expected to seek only the public good
and the national prosperity, In any
constitutional or special legislation.
The society is to discuss next week
the exclusion of Chinese and other
Asiaties from the elective franchise.